LG G Watch Powered by Android Wear Price: $79.99 Shipping Options:: $5 Standard Shipping Estimates: Ships in 1-2 business days (Monday, Jun 01 to Tuesday, Jun 02) + transit Condition: Factory Reconditioned
I have this exact watch on my wrist as I type this. Picked it up a few weeks ago used on ebay for about the same price as this one. The battery will go a couple of days on average and it was just updated to the newest android 5.1.1 last week. The screen stays on all the time which is rare for a smartwatch and one of the reasons i picked it… that and the price.
Is it able to signal calendar events even when out of range of the phone?
My wife doesn’t carry her phone with her all the time around the house so if it lost contact with the phone for an hour, would any scheduled calender events go off on the watch? (does it store them locally if disconnected?)
I’m almost positive events are pushed to the watch rather than being cached locally ahead of time, so it probably won’t work like you want it to. Also, as previously mentioned in the thread it has neither a WiFi radio nor a mobile (3G/4G) one so this watch will require an active Bluetooth connection to your phone for many functions.
One possible workaround would be to schedule events with multiple reminder notifications, a couple of hours in advance, to ensure that that’ll reach the watch while it has an active connection to the phone.
I bought this back in November when BB had them for $85 with a $50 Google Play credit. It replaced a first gen Samsung (the god awful beast with the camera in the band). Flipped the Gear on CL for $20 more than I paid for it and figured that would be the fate of this watch after I saw the new G watch R or Moto 360…but just have had no reason to unload this thing. The only thing I missed from the Samsung was the ability to answer a call and carry on a conversation on the watch, but you can only look so cool (or carry on so many conversations) at your wrist. I just returned a Moto 360 to Costco (you can get them now for $150ish at BB) b/c for the price the only thing I was getting was a HR monitor and aesthetics (all things being equal I kinda like the simple square look of this one). As with all new tech (think Chromebooks) most of these “refurbs” are likely rejected by owners that had no legitimate reason to own them in the first place (yeah that means you fanboys…). Android Wear has gotten substantially better with the last 2 updates and promises to get even better as app support becomes more common (for ex I use mine as a sleep monitor now via Sleep as Driod, all the major wellness apps (Strava, Map my __, Tracks) have nice watch displays for tracking runs, hikes, rides) and as of yesterday (I have no idea how or why) OneDrive added a watch face of its own accord to my watch that randomly generates watch faces from my backed up photos). I honestly could not live without mine, but I am on my phone/email/etc 24/7 for work so I prefer to be as plugged in as possible.
In my year or so of owning one, I’ve never once wished it had wifi. I don’t see any use for it – all it needs is Bluetooth – and wifi would kill the battery in hours, too.
It should be 50 + shipping being that this is THE most plainest Android smartwatches off the face of the Earth. How this was more expensive (230 at launch) than the affordable Samsung Gear Live has more features, better screen (AMOLED), and future Wifi support (199 at launch) will never be explained.
Some people say it has a slightly larger battery than the Gear and the fancy but much appreciative charging dock. It’s possibly true (especially the charger) but I say they could have easily sold it cheaper (like 150 or 100 if they had the balls at launch) and start the fire for the use and development of Android Wear.
FYI, these have an issue where there is a slight voltage on the second electrical contact. When combined with a little bit of moisture and salts from being attached to a human all day long you will get a little bit of oxidation. It will eventually pit and rust.
I have to scrape the rust off of mine from time to time or else it will sit there vibrating every couple of seconds as it determines it’s being connected and disconnected from the charging cradle.
No heart rate monitor.
Other than these two issues (hey, it’s a first gen product) it’s truly a wonderful companion to have. I rarely have to actually touch my phone while driving. My phone stays in my pocket or on my desk a lot more. The convenience is without a doubt worth the $80 considering the value and use I get out of it.
I thought it would be a gimmick but it’s hugely helpful having what amounts to a secondary display for notifications plus some light app use. I no longer miss notifications because I couldn’t hear my phone or feel the vibration in my pocket, and Google Maps vibrating on your wrist, flick glance, eyes back on the road is worth it alone.
I actually returned recently a 50% off Target Cartwheel offer for a $159.99 1st Gen LG G Watch ($87 new with tax), due to the fact that at one point, AT&T.com even sold this for a low $50…brand new (long been sold out).
A $79.99 G Watch refurb price point, is still expensive.
To me, $30-$40 would be more realistic.
As reference to my “preferred” pricing, the total cost to actually manufacture this 1st Gen smartwatch:
$52.40
Summary points:
LG G Watch (LG-W100)
Requires smartphone or tablet running Android 4.3 or higher
Bluetooth connected watch with 4 GB eMMC and 512 MB SDRAM
Runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 with 1.2 GHz CPU
Target market: Mass market
Pricing: $160
Availability: Worldwide
Total cost (direct materials and manufacturing): $52.40
8-layer, FR4, Lead-free – MFG: LG INNOTEK CO LTD – (Qty: 1)
Exterior
Source: IHS
Main PCB Top
Source: IHS
Main PCB Bottom
At this juncture, I’d rather buy a 1st Gen Moto 360. At least, though still an old model (2nd Gen is coming out, at any time now…), it is preferably more mature, stylish and tasteful looking…than this plasticky/cheap looking, LG kid’s “toy” watch.
The main reason for wanting wifi is to get notifications even when the phone is out of bluetooth range. I’m always leaving my phone all over the house, this will be great for me (one they update the Moto360 that is).
Can anyone who has this product tell me if any part of it that touches the skin is metal? It’s hard to tell from the pictures. I have contact allergy to metal (as in there will be a perfect watch-shaped rash on my skin after a couple of days). Thanks for any info!
A clarification on the whole WiFi thing for android wear smart watches.
This just got pushed out for android ware. Although in theory it seems like a great idea, in practicality it’s not quite as cool. For secured networks the watch needs to be synced with your phone (bluetooth) at first, when you enter that that area, so that the password can be communicated to the watch- thereafter it will remember it. The WiFi will draw more power than bluetooth- hence the battery life could run down a lot faster compared to when it is on bluetooth. The wifi range won’t be that good, because range needs power, power means draining the battery (something the watchmakers won’t be willing to part with), especially when you have a tiny antenna- so you can expect the watch to have to reconnect to networks fairly often unless it’s a strong signal. If you think you can just walk into a store with free wifi and be connected automatically- think again. The free wifi in most stores/restaurants has a page where you need to agree to the use of their services before you can use the wifi. If you can’t access that page, the wifi won’t work, and you need to validate that page each time you go to the store. For instance I walk into Sams club, my wifi shows a signal- I go to the internet and I’m directed to a page where I have to agree before the wifi gateway will be opened to my device. There is no real way to do that on a watch without your phone present. So basically the wifi part will work great if you’re around your house, or your neighbor’s house (after the watch is “trained” with the security code the first time)- but don’t think you are just going to walk around town and connect automatically to every open hotspot
and sync that easily. Maybe at some point it will work better, but there are still plenty of obstacles to overcome before it works the way consumers would truly like it to work.
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